Elephant skin for Chinese “medicine”? Stop the killing in Myanmar!

It’s an evil business: Asia’s elephants are being poached for the latest Chinese quack cure: elephant-skin ointments to treat eczema, acne and digestive problems. Speak out for a ban on trade in elephant skin and other body parts!

Call to action

To: the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping; the State Counsellor of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi

Stop the trade in elephant body parts. Asian elephants are being poached for their skin, which is used for Chinese “medicine” and jewelry.

Until recently, only male Asian elephants were in danger of being poached for ivory, as the females do not have tusks. Now, the poachers are killing every animal they can find – including females and calves. After the elephants slowly succumb to poisoned arrows, the poachers skin their prey on the spot.

More than one hundred elephants are known have been poached in Myanmar for their skin since 2013; more than twenty have already been killed this year alone.

The survival of the species is at stake if this continues.

A major hub of the trade is the lawless Burmese border town Mong La. Dried elephant skin is on sale there openly, along with hides, bones and other body parts of various endangered species. The trade is also flourishing at a market near the Golden Rock, one of Myanmar’s most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites.

The elephant skin is dried, powdered and mixed with coconut oil to make an ointment said to help against skin conditions and digestive problems. It is also made into jewelry, such as beaded bracelets selling for less than $100.

The criminal business is internationally organized and the authorities turn a blind eye. Locals are afraid to inform the police. In Myanmar, elephant poachers face up to seven years in prison, but violations are rarely prosecuted.

China’s policymakers have acknowledged that their country plays a pivotal role in elephant poaching. China has banned the ivory trade and is closing its domestic ivory market, but that is not stopping Chinese citizens from crossing the open border to Myanmar unhindered and buying elephant products there.

Tell China and Myanmar to shut down the trade in ivory and other elephant body parts. The survival of Asian elephants depends on it!